Austin’s Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas was a place workmate and friends Alok Madasani, and Srinivas Kuchibhotla often visited for after-work drinks. It was a place where they were known and liked. The bar was a place where they felt safe to occasionally relax for a short while before heading home in the evening. Both men were 32, in the process of growing their careers and families. The two men handled steady jobs at Garmin, a technology company specializing in the production of GPS devices. Madasani and his wife were expecting a child. Kuchibhotia and his wife were talking about expanding their family too.
On Wednesday, March 1, the two men met for a couple of drinks. However, the memories of that night will remain with Madasani forever. A University of Kansas basketball game was being aired at the bar. Madasani and Kuchibhotla were not watching the game, keen to have a lively conversation instead. According to Madasani, they were laughing and talking.
At around 6:15 p.m., a stranger walked into the bar and pointed a finger at them. Madasani describes the man as elderly and having anger on his face. Madasani remained silent on queries from the stranger about the duo’s citizenship. Kuchibhotla, however, responded to the stranger so as to be polite. Madasani recalls, “He said, ‘No sir, we are here legally, we are on H1B, we are from India.'”
Madasani was surprised at how random the encounter was. Following this incident, he went to the bar from the patio, where the two workmates had been having drinks. Despite being natives of Telugu, the two men had been speaking English. He said that Kuchibhotia always made it a point to speak in English while in public.
The stranger had left within half an hour, by 6:45 p.m. According to Madasani, everyone in the bar was watching him leave since the recent incident had not only affected the two men but those around them as well. He also said that he (Madasani) and his friend were calm and relaxed as the stranger left.
The peace, however, wouldn’t last very long. 30 minutes later, the friends had heard from others in the bar that the stranger was back, this time with a gun. What happened next was almost too fast for Madasani to react to.
“I heard a loud pop right next to my ear, kind of a loud pop,” Madasani said. Immediately, he dropped to the ground and began to crawl towards the door. On his way towards the exit, he tried to stand but couldn’t. That was when he realized his leg was injured. He fell to the ground but fortunately managed to get himself to the patio. From there, he said he could not move any further. “It was just too much pain, and a lot of blood,” he recalled.
Fortunately, patrons came to his aid on the patio. One tied a shirt over his leg. As he received tending to his injury, Madasani saw Kuchibhotia lying on the floor, motionless. Kuchibhotia was later confirmed dead after a medical team’s futile efforts to revive him.
Three hours later at Applebee’s Restaurant, 70 miles away, Adam Purinton was arrested for the alleged shooting. He had, some hours after the shooting, confessed to the restaurant’s bartender. The bartender reported the case to the police, who arrived at Applebee’s and apprehended the suspect at 11:43 p.m. Purinton was extradited to Johnson County, Kansas, on Friday. He is scheduled to stand trial on Monday and is being held on a $2million bond.
Mr. Kuchibhotia leaves a wife behind who is still contemplating the shocking circumstances of his death. In a touching Facebook post, she recalls Kuchibhotia as a charming and charismatic individual. He was always optimistic, she says in her post. Now, Sunayana Dumala lacks the optimism her husband always shared with her so as to follow her dreams. This trying time comes during her efforts to further her career after a four-year break from working. Her husband had supported her efforts to get back into employment. Her dreams of starting a family with Kuchibhotia are now shattered. In the span of an evening, so much has changed for her. This includes her approach to her opinion on her well-being as an immigrant in the United States.
The death of Mr. Kuchibhotia brings into the spotlight the issue of gun control in America. With some lobbyists claiming that perhaps his death could have been prevented with a stricter approach to gun ownership. So what has the government done so far with regards to gun control?
On January 5th, 2016, President Obama unveiled a new strategy to curb gun-related violence. Within his strategy, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) required any business that “engaged in the business” of selling guns to have a license in place. The license was required despite how many sales are to occur and are regardless of the sales’ frequency. Failure to obtain a permit would incur fines of up to $250000. The plan also focuses significantly on background checks, requiring businesses selling guns to run checks on their customers before selling them guns. Furthermore, the ATF Bureau required gun sellers to report cases of their merchandise being stolen or lost during transit. President Obama’s plan also included the FBI overhauling the background checks to increase their efficiency. Furthermore, more money was invested in the mental health sector to promote their easier access by individuals.
“We know we can’t stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world. But maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence,” he had added in an address to the public promoting his gun control plan at the time.
President Trump, however, was in support to remove background checks from the gun control plan Former President Obama established. Trump shared the same sentiments with other Republicans on gun control: That the Obama administration was concentrating too much on law-abiding gun owners by enforcing background checks. He had promised a rollback on the bill during his campaign. Trump made good on his promise last month when he signed a bill that makes it easier for people with mental illnesses to purchase guns. Further rollbacks are expected in times to come, as President Trump has also made promises to eliminate gun-free zones in the country and allow guns in classrooms.
